Day 7

Today Ms. Hildebrand had a meeting from 8:15 to 10:30. I met with Ms. H when i first arrived to school and she let me know what i was going to be doing with the substitute while she was gone. This morning was the most independent i had been yet because i didn't have Ms. Hildebrand to rely on to ask questions. From 8:15 to 9:00, i was with Myles, Ryan, Hannah, and Lauren at the circle table in the hallway working in their Math books on Money problems. Myles is a very quick learner and is so good at explaining math problems to Ryan so that he understands better. Myles would often solve the problem very quickly and then help Ryan with his problem. Hannah and Lauren were not quite as cooperative and helpful with each other. Hannah seemed like she was focused, but when i would tell her what she needed to plug into her calculator she had trouble responding and typing in exactly the numbers that i would say. I would read off her paper very slowly what she had written down and say, "type into the calculator thirty cents" then pause because she wouldn't respond, "point three zero, exactly what you wrote down on your paper," and then she would do it. I then would read off the next number that she needed to add because she had trouble copying from her paper to her calculator and say, "now add one dollar and twenty five cents," and she would forget the decimal point and need to start over. This was very challenging for me to not get frustrated and to keep encouraging her that she can do it on her own. I don't know exactly why she could solve the problem, write down on her paper $0.30 and say, "thirty cents," but not be able to type .30 into her calculator. It seems that maybe she has trouble transferring information from one spot to another, yet i have not noticed a problem with her copying words down from the board. Lauren was my other big struggle. She had lots of trouble focusing and wanting to do work. As soon as she came out to the circle table and was not with Ms. Hildebrand or another adult, she became really stubborn. Lauren did not want to work together with Hannah. Lauren would get an answer and i would ask her to compare answers with Hannah, who i worked with on the problem, and their answers were different. Lauren didn't want to listen to Hannah's answer and was sure that her answer was correct, and would not work through the problem again with me to double check. I wonder what made her so resistant to working with Hannah and i, and why she seemed so confident in her answer, but couldn't prove it to me. While the boys worked very well with each other on one side of the table, i struggled with Lauren and Hannah working as partners. Eventually i was able to have Lauren cooperate a little bit and she was willing to do the problems with hannah and i, but it took a lot of encouragement and attention from me. 

After math the students had snack and then went into Mr. Jensen's class for Geology. Today, the two classes examined the river rocks again, but this time they put them in a cup of water to see if/how they changed. At 10:00 it was time for Ms. Hildebrand's class to go to Art class. The students continued working on their Weather drawings, focusing on foreground, middle-ground, and background. I wonder why some students understand the concept of depth, and making things smaller in the background and larger in the foreground, and some students absolutely do not understand the difference. Kathryne thought it was like a story line and drew a really great picture in the bottom third of the paper, but she included the sun and the sky. Then in the middle of the paper she drew the same people, but smaller and drew the sky again but it was darker, as if its later in the day. I wonder why she couldn't understand that it's supposed to be looking out very far at one moment. The art teacher and i tried explaining it to her and she seemed to acknowledge what we were saying, say she understood, but then kept doing what she was doing and thought it was right. At what point will her eye realize that her picture doesn't make sense? It is so fascinating to see where the gaps are in the students knowledge. What someone my age might think is common sense, like perspective, some second graders have not quite figured it out yet. I also wonder why some students are so attentive and focused in some classes and not in others. Lauren for example, who struggles with paying attention in Ms. Hildebrand's class, is the most diligent worker in Art class and is always on task.  

After Art class, Ms. Hildebrand came back from her meeting and it was time for lunch and recess. When the kids came back from recess Hayden shared with the class his book called Wool Animals and some of the animals he has created. The kids were amazed at the little wool animals that Hayden made. While listening to Hayden try to explain to the class how to make the wool animals, i found myself a little frustrated with his explanation because i really couldn't understand HOW to make the animals. He kept saying to the class, "You just poke and poke the wool into the shapes. Its whicked easy!" At what age do you learn to explain stories or actions in detail? Is it normal at this age to be very vague and not be able to find words to explain actions with detail? The little animals that he made were absolutely amazing. He created a little wool bee, sheep, and bunny that were adorable. Because of Hayden's show and tell, story time was shortened to only 10 minutes. Then, it was time for reading groups. I met in the hall with the three boys who i usually work with: Aiden, Todd, and DJ. They read a short chapter from their book and then i handed them a paper with a question on it that asked them "How did Uncle Pedro feel about Ivy and Gregory painting the house?" DJ is by far the fastest reader of the group, but he does not understand the content that he reads, as well as Aiden and Todd do. The answer to the question was not written out straight forward so they needed to read thoroughly and find clues to help them. DJ immediately gave up and said the answer isnt in the book, he cant do it, Uncle Padro doesnt say anything about the kids painting, etc. For DJ being such a fast reader i would think that he would have more confidence and believe in himself. I find that he gives up quicker than most of the students in the class, but he is so bright. Aiden and Todd figured out the answer without my help, but they took a much longer time to read the chapter. I wonder why some students can read faster than others, yet understand less than the slower readers. When they all answered the question they went back into the room and then i read with Ryan out in the hall. Ryan is a really interesting student. He read a book to me about a dog named Wags. He would often get stumped on little words like: with, what, which, two, and one, because he would just guess instead of actually reading. Ryan did something very clever when he was stuck on a word, he would look at the pictures on the page for clues to help him and then he would start guessing words. I would have to remind him to just look at the word and sound it out. When he sounded it out he would get it every time! Ryan falls under the category of students who comprehend what they read very well, like Aiden and Todd, but the reading pace isn't as fast as some of the students. Once Ryan finished reading the 31 page book, it was time to go back into the classroom for an art lesson from Todd's mother. She showed the students tricks  for sketching and drawing pictures. She will be coming in tomorrow morning too! Today was overwhelming with activities and observations, but i am enjoying every moment that i spend at AEMS. I look forward to tomorrow :)